The Arizona House has refused to immediately expel Rep. Daniel Patterson over allegations of inappropriate behavior toward other lawmakers but agreed to speed up the pending ethics case against the newly turned independent from Tucson.

Supporters of a controversial proposal that would allow any employer with a religious objection to deny contraception coverage to workers successfully revived the legislation a day after critics defeated it in the Senate.

It may have passionate allies at the state Capitol, but the Goldwater Institute is so far failing to advance the centerpiece of its anti-union agenda: ending public employees' ability to negotiate over salary and benefits.

Former intelligence operative Leah Campos Schandlbauer declared her candidacy for the GOP primary for the 9th Congressional District, joining a rapidly growing field in the competitive district.

Schandlbauer was an operations officer with the Central Intelligence Agency until she resigned recently to run in CD9. The 39-year-old mother of four quit her job with the CIA’s National Clandestine Service after more than a decade on the job to pursue her campaign.

The intraparty war between congressional Republican leadership and the conservative Club for Growth appears to have simmered down for now, even while the race between U.S. Reps. David Schweikert and Ben Quayle is growing fiercer.

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner this week agreed to give Schweikert a contribution from his PAC to compensate for a contribution he made earlier to his primary rival Quayle.

Republicans and Democrats in the Senate sparred Thursday over sweeping anti-abortion legislation that generally bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and institutes new disclosure requirements, including one that requires women to look at a state-run website with images of fetuses at two-week intervals.

U.S. Senate hopeful Wil Cardon is launching a $230,000 television ad campaign in his bid to upset frontrunner Jeff Flake in the GOP primary, though the announcement hit a brief snag thanks to a spelling error.